O.C. cities become centers of immigration debate

A protester burns sage and prays during a demonstration against Arizona's new anti-illegal immigration law near the federal building in Santa Ana, Thursday. KEN STEINHARDT, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor, seen in a file photo, urged the City Council to pass a resolution to declare Costa Mesa a "Rule of Law City," meaning that people who are in the country illegally are not welcome in the city. The resolution passed, 4-0. FILE PHOTO: THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido said he disagrees with the Arizona law but also disagrees with some protesters who want Santa Ana to declare itself a so-called sanctuary city for illegal immigrants. JOSHUA SUDOCK, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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We are at a critical juncture in our country," says Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly of the immigration debate. COURTESY OF VILLA PARK

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While lying on Santa Ana Boulevard in Santa Ana, a demonstrator winces as firefighters use wrenches to loosen up bolts on a rope chain that is connected to the eight protesters. KEN STEINHARDT, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A firefighter and a police officer try to get the metal tubing holding the protesters together outside the federal building at 34 Civic Center Plaza during a protest against anti-illegal immigration measures on Thursday. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

It shifts next week to Orange, where council members plan to vote on a resolution in support of Arizona and its new anti-illegal immigration law.

That law has tapped into something deep in Orange County – fear on one side and frustration on the other. You can hear it in the handful of resolutions already passed by cities here, taking the rare step of supporting or opposing another state. Or in the angry chants of protesters before they go to jail.

Both sides say they are driven by their own convictions, not by any organized movement. And they agree on one thing: this is a debate that had to happen, even with raised tempers and raised voices.

"It was just bubbling up and bubbling up, and somewhere it was going to pop," said Councilman Jon Dumitru of Orange, who introduced the proposed resolution supporting Arizona's law. "We're finally having the dialogue we've been needing for years."

It's a dialogue, however, between two sides that have been digging in for this fight. The Arizona law has only crystallized their differences into uncompromising slogans: rule of law versus immigration reform.

The result has been a dialogue that is "about as hostile as I've seen it" in more than 20 years, said Rusty Kennedy, the head of the county's Human Relations Commission. The last time the county conversation was this heated, he said, was when Congress was debating another immigration reform-and-control act – in 1986.

This time, the debate involves Orange County's well-established anti-illegal immigrant movement but also a matured and eclectic immigrant community, said Louis DeSipio, professor of political science and Chicano/Latino studies at UC Irvine. A key part of that community, he said, are the more politically active U.S.-born children of parents who were once or still are in the country illegally.

The stakes are high.

"I think Orange County is a microcosm of what the nation will experience on how to craft some sort of compromise," DeSipio said. "Either side is not allowing much room for compromise."

The Arizona law at the center of the debate makes it a crime to not have immigration papers. It requires police to ask people for documentation of their legal status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that they are in the country illegally.

The law only comes into play when someone is stopped on suspicion of violating another law. It has also been amended to discourage racial profiling.

One dividing line in the local debate over that law is Sunflower Avenue. It runs between the city of Santa Ana, which has formally opposed the Arizona law as unfair and unconstitutional; and the city of Costa Mesa, which has declared itself a "rule of law" city against illegal immigration.

Yorba Linda is the only other city in Orange County to have weighed in on the debate; it adopted a resolution endorsing Arizona's efforts to curb illegal immigration. Villa Park considered such a resolution, but its council members declined, saying they prefer to focus on city issues.

No other Orange County cities have taken a stand on Arizona's law, and several — such as Laguna Beach and Laguna Woods — said they have no intention to. County supervisors also have not voted up or down on the law; neither have any school boards – including those in Costa Mesa and Santa Ana.

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor said there was no orchestrated effort to rally cities to Arizona's side. He called the anti-illegal immigration movement "grass-roots American activism at its best."

"I look at it as one of the many things that cannot be ignored," said Mansoor, who is running for the Assembly and has been accused of supporting the Arizona law for political gain. "We know what the problems are and we need to put forward solutions, but some of the solutions are going to be a bit painful."

On the other side of Sunflower Avenue, Mayor Miguel Pulido said Santa Ana was trying to find a middle ground. He said he disagrees with the Arizona law but also disagrees with some protesters who want Santa Ana to declare itself a so-called sanctuary city for illegal immigrants.

"That goes beyond what we think our role should be," he said.

Dozens of those protesters rallied Thursday outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Santa Ana. They, too, said they were acting as individuals, not as part of any larger organization – although they arrived with media representatives and lists of demands that included immediate repeal of the Arizona and Costa Mesa measures.

Eight of them chained themselves together and lay down on Santa Ana Boulevard, blocking traffic for several hours before they were arrested. All of them were released from jail by Friday morning.

Police identified six of them as Orange County residents; one is from Los Angeles and one is from South Gate. All of them are in the country legally, police said.

The Arizona law "was the last straw," said Sandra Saravia, 22, a UC Irvine student from Costa Mesa who was one of the eight arrested.

"We're tired of it. Sometimes you can write letters to people and that's important. But there comes a time when you have to do something. If it's people lying down on the ground to call attention to an issue, then that's what needs to be done."

Deborah Pauly stands on the other side of the debate. She's a councilwoman in Villa Park and tried, unsuccessfully, to convince her colleagues on the council to formally support the Arizona law.

If there's any organized movement to pass such resolutions, Pauly is it. She said she's been contacting council members in other cities and pushing them to support the Arizona law.

"It's been ratcheting up to critical mass," she said, a comment echoed by people on both sides of the debate. "We are at a critical juncture in our country."

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